DITHOR Workbooks

[inHistiming]

I posted on the DITHOR board, but I quess most of you check here, so I'm re-posting as recommended. I am wondering if the workbooks are integral to the program, or if the work can be done without them. Carrie's answer was that they go hand-in-hand, and I'm sure she knows since she created these! What has been your experience? I guess my REAL question is should I start DITHOR if my daughter is still what I consider an emerging reader? She's doing a great job, but I do have to help her a lot-I think now more as a motivation to finish her work instead of because she needs me that much- and I don't know if she's quite ready for this program. What do you all think who are using it? I am trying to keep costs down, but I want to make sure that we aren't missing anything either. Another question- has anyone been able to find the extension pack (for BHFHG, to be used with 4th/5th graders) books at your library or did you just purchase them all? Any responses would be so helpful. Thanks!

[blessedmomof4]

Hi-I sent you a pm, but just wanted to say, absolutely you need the DITHOR workbook and teacher book to use the program, they comprise the program, you can't have one without the other. If you look at Carrie's sample pages for each on the website, you'll see that the teacher's book refers to workboook pages that must be completed. I recommend you review the samples in order to decide if your daughter is ready for it. If not, you might try the emerging reader list-my 3rd grader is using that and an inexpensive phonics workbook to strengthen her reading. Many of the emerging reader books and extension package books are available through my library system, but you should check with yours first. Those that my library doesn't carry, I bought. If I had a bigger budget, I would have bought them all, they are such great books! (I'm a book lover, can you tell?)

[my3sons]

Hi! I would agree with the previous poster (and Carrie) that the workbooks are a necessary (and neat!) part of DITHOR. It does say that you may copy them for your family's use, so that is a way to economize if you have a copier.

A lot of the Emerging Reader's set of books are listed on DITHOR's Suggested Booklist for Level 2/3, so I think you'd be just fine beginning with that. That being said, DITHOR is so flexible that there are some simple ways to choose to do it that may be beneficial when beginning it with the Emerging Reader's Set. I actually just posted about something quite similar here:

http://www.heartofdakota.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=149

If you just scroll down to the My3Sons post, you should be able to read that. Some of those ideas might help out with your little honey. Please let me know if you can view that or not (if not, I'll get back to you here) and have an awesome Friday!

[Tansy]

my dd struggled with the work load.. "original thought" is not her forte. So every other genre we didn't do the work book with the reading. One month reading was for pleasure. I'm terrible arn't I? We usually didn't pull out the big monster book either on reading for fun weeks. THAT said You do need the work book but you don't have to use it all the time... it is a flexible program.


to attest to the success of this... she hated reading when we started. She just got a Ramona book for Christmas, when we got the book she asked if we could use it for school but I have her books planned out all ready. She was so disappointed till I told her she could read it for the joy of reading it... and last time I looked she was up reading it with the light on.

WE now use the work book all the time and use the big book all the time.
One of the suggestions I saw somewhere was to do the work sheet together on a white board, then have the child copy. So when i see the worksheet is going to be hard for her to do on her own. That is how i handle it now.

[Carrie]

I agree that one of the great things about "Drawn into the Heart of Reading" is its flexibility. You can change how you use it from year to year to better fit your family's needs.

We have done many of the things already mentioned by other posters for different years of our homeschooling. We have done some lessons on the white board or orally for my oldest son when his fine motor skills were still catching up to his reading abilities. We have used the guide and Student Book one month and then the next month just read for enjoyment (using the same genre we had just studied). We have done "Drawn into the Heart..." 3 or 4 times a week depending on what I could swing in any given year. We have also done it 5 days a week, when we needed to cover a lot of ground in literature.

No matter what, I find that using "Drawn into the Heart of Reading" gives me a foundation to work from. It forces me to be balanced in what I require my children to read for school. I strive to cover all 9 genres every 2 years no matter what. Otherwise, I would be guilty of showering my children with a lot of historical fiction, realistic fiction, and nonfiction (because there are so many excellent books in those categories). But, I would miss out on having my kids read the genres I loved as a child (mystery, fantasy, and humor).

So the bottom line is that once you get used to using "Drawn into the Heart...", your time can be spent choosing good books for your children to read and discussing them, instead of spending time getting used to a new literature program every year or correcting pages of paper/pencil assignments each day. Both of which I have done in the past!

Blessings,
Carrie

[6timeboymom]

Can I jsut say "yeah, what she said!!"
I have used DITHOR since...uh....I can't remember. I think since it was published, honestly!! I wouldn't use it without the workbooks for my boys, but for an emerging reading I might use just the vocabluar sheets from the index instead of the workbook pages.